My goddess. What did they do to my Josh?
Josh growled and lifted his arm to swipe at her. Every ounce of love poured out of her through their bond, begging for something to hold. He didn’t stop his violent movements, and she braced for impact.
A growl rumbled behind her, and Reed jumped and landed on Josh. Fists flew as Reed pushed Josh back, slamming both of their bodies against the wall with a crash. Josh screamed and clawed at Reed’s arms, leaving layers of torn flesh, blood dripping from the wounds.
Hannah jumped when a small hand grabbed hers. The bruised woman squeezed and watched the door, presumably for anyone who could come in after hearing the loud noise of the fight between Hannah’s two mates. She felt so useless. In the stark building, she was cut off from her magic. So she had nothing to pull on to separate the two loves of her life and protect them. She hated standing back. But without her magic, she’d be crushed like a bug between the two hulking strong masculine bodies.
The sounds of flesh slapping against flesh filled the room as the two men fought, and sweat poured from their bodies. Reed growled, his eyes glowing gold. Josh rasped out a curse, his glowing red. Blood seeped from cuts and gashes on both of them. Hannah instinctively reached for magic, but couldn’t find any. Her soul ached, and dread filled her belly. She could lose them both.
Reed bent low and rammed Josh into the floor, pinning him. Hope started to make its uneasy pass through her. Could they beat Josh and save him? Josh struggled against Reed’s strong hold and her wolf bent low, his fangs elongated on his still-human face, and bit into the fleshy part of Josh’s shoulder where it met the neck. Josh screamed, and Hannah moved forward, a desperate need to protect them both from each other driving her, but the other woman shook her head and held her back. Hannah couldn’t help. She could only sit back and watch and pray it worked. She hated being weak. Josh’s body convulsed under Reed’s powerful form. The bond rippled between the three of them, filling her womb with heat as energy pulsed in a rhythmic beat.
Tears fell down her cheeks, the salty taste burning her dry lips. Reed lifted his head, blood coating his lips, his eyes wet, and licked the wound shut. Josh heaved a breath and passed out. Reed held out a hand toward her, and she froze.
“Please. Now.” A guttural growl.
The other woman released her hand. Hannah ran to them and knelt beside her two mates. She placed her hand over Josh’s slow-moving chest. The heartbeat beneath her palm made her want to weep. Had they saved him? Reed brushed a bloody knuckle down her cheek then pulled her close, pressing his lips to hers. She could taste both men mixed with Josh’s blood on her tongue. But it didn’t gross her out; it was the only way to bring him back. With that taste, she could feel the hope of their bond growing and surviving. Reed pulled back, grabbed a fistful of her curls and leaned her head to the side, exposing her neck.
Please let this bond work. Don’t let the mark be for nothing.
Reed bit into her shoulder, the piercing pain flashing through her and shocking her body. Was it supposed to feel like this? She thought it was supposed to bring her to pleasure. If it was this painful, did that mean she really wasn’t their mate and she’d lose them?
And achy feeling of despair fought with the overwhelming pain in her shoulder, threatening to shatter her heart and soul. Just as she was about to give up hope, a viscous honey sensation slid through her body, coming to rest in her core. Her center thrummed, and she rocked against Reed, his erection brushing against her hip. He growled, the vibrations sending shivers down her body, and she came, shattering in her mate’s arms.
Home.
Mates.
Trinity.
Forever.
Reed released her, and she slid down his body, resting her head on Josh’s chest, his heartbeat steady against her cheek. Josh shifted, and she shot up. His eyes opened, a confused expression covering his face.
Her mind still foggy from the mate marking, she stared down at her clear eyed mate. His irises still had a rim of red but surrounded that clear, ocean-water blue she loved so much. Reed squeezed her shoulder and she fought the urge to throw herself on the two of them and cry.
“What did I do?” he rasped.
“Shh,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”
Josh lifted his arm and held her face with his large, calloused hand before using his other to pull at Reed.
They’d done it. He was theirs. Thank the goddess.
A polite cough behind them pulled Hannah out of her thoughts.
The woman smiled. “I’m sorry. I know you guys are in the moment and everything, but we need to go.”
She nodded and stood. No embarrassment filled her, though she’d just had an orgasm with an audience. She needed only to be with her men and get them the hell out of there.
Chapter 28
Josh stood between his mates, his mind freeing itself from the fog that had threatened their mating. He’d been lost for so long, since the bite, but now he felt free, like he’d seen through the darkness and had come out on the other side. Not unscathed, but alive. Hannah, with her dark curls and gray eyes, stared up at him, and he could feel her soul wrapped around his, trying to ease his hurts. Reed fisted his hands as he looked around the room and through the door to make sure they were safe. With his new heightened senses, Josh knew it was safe. He could hear nothing outside the room coming for them.
He was home.
Well, at least on his way.
Josh pulled Hannah to him and kissed her fully on the lips, letting her honey and bitter apple taste settle on his tongue. It wasn’t the time for it, but he needed it. Craved it. He let go of her and kissed Reed, letting their tongues clash in a harsher tone before he pulled back and took a good look at the other woman in the room.
A daughter of the Pack that had attacked him and the ones he loved. The Alpha’s daughter in fact.
She was also the one who saved his life by keeping him grounded. She’d brought him food and talked to him when he would have rather screamed and fought. He owed her his life and would do anything to make sure she got a chance to live outside this hellhole.
“Hannah, Josh, this is Ellie. She kept me alive.”
Ellie bowed her head and seemed to shrink into herself. What atrocities had she endured? He was responsible for some but not all.
“Ellie Reyes?” Reed asked, his eyes narrowing.
Ellie raised her head and met his gaze, defiance in her eyes. “Yes. The daughter of the Alpha. I won’t waste my time defending myself by saying I’m not like my brother and father. It’s not worth it.”
Reed tilted his head and nodded.
“We’ll get you out with us,” Hannah promised. “Thank you for helping him.”
Ellie nodded, her eyes wet with tears, but she didn’t let them fall.
Josh grabbed Hannah’s hand and led the way out the door with Ellie following and Reed taking up the rear. Nobody was in the hall, and they quietly wound their way through the deserted hall before they made it outside the building. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and Josh cursed.
Hector stood in their path, a cruel snarl on his face. “You think you can just leave, pet? No. I made you what you are. I ordered it. You are mine. And you’ll do what you’re told and kill those two. Now.”
A wave of compulsion washed over him but didn’t stick. He wasn’t Hector’s or Caym’s pawn anymore. They’d lost. And Josh would make sure Hector wouldn’t forget it.
“No,” Josh growled.
Hector’s brows rose, and confusion marred his face.
Oh, poor little Alpha. He just doesn’t get it.
But he will.
Josh let go of Hannah’s hand and leaped, his fist connecting with Hector’s jaw before the other man had time to blink or defend himself.
Stupid wolf shouldn’t have given him the strength. He’d pay.
The howls of other wolves reached his ears, but Josh had only one goal. Destroy his tormenter. At least one of them. Caym and Corbin would be dealt with later. Corbin may not have touched him, but the wolf had hurt his mates. Josh punched the Alpha with all his strength again, the feel of bone breaking and the sound of crunching a sweet symphony to his ears.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ellie fighting another enemy, her nails digging into the flank of the opposing wolf. On his other side, Reed did the same with two other wolves, his hands forming claws and killing quickly and efficiently. Hannah pulled the soil and roots around them and buried anything that stood in their path.
“You shouldn’t have given me the strength, Hector,” Josh growled.
“You’re still nothing, pathetic human,” Hector spat, the veins in his neck bulging. The other man forced his hands to shift—a talent only the Alpha and a select few possessed—and swung his claws at Josh.
Josh howled in pain as the other man’s claws gauged his arm and reopened his bite mark. Hannah screamed as a wolf jumped on top of her, knocking her down, its teeth bared. Reed grabbed the wolf by the scruff of this neck and took his other hand to break it then he flung the dead wolf against the wall.
Rage filled Josh at the site of his pale Hannah covered in dirt and blood, her eyes wide. He screamed, ducked another fist, then grabbed the bastard’s neck and twisted. Hector’s eyes widened, and with an echoing crack of his spine, his evil glare deadened. The Alpha’s corpse fell to the ground with a plop.
No sense of retribution filled Josh, no feeling at all but the desire to go home and be with his mates.
****
Reed exhaled at the sheer daunting strength of Josh’s hold.
Dear God. What had the Centrals done to him? It didn’t matter though. He was theirs and Reed wouldn’t let Josh go again.
Leaves crunched under feet as Caym and Corbin walked toward them.
“I see my charge has learned a new trick,” Caym drawled.
Reed went on alert, putting Hannah behind him, Josh doing the same with Ellie. Caym and Corbin stood on top of a hill about two hundred feet ahead of them. A grouping of wolves in human and animal form stood between them.
“You’re a traitor, dear sister.” Corbin sneered.
Ellie stepped out from behind Josh and raised her chin. “I’d rather die than stay here with you.”
“Good,” Corbin growled. “Because I’m going to kill you slowly. After I play with you some more, my pet.”
Ellie shivered but didn’t move nor did she lower her gaze. Good girl.
“Your father is dead,” Reed snarled. “We won’t hesitate to kill you as well.”
Corbin threw back his head and laughed. “Are you kidding me? You did me a favor. That bastard deserved to die. He didn’t have the vision I have. Now I’m Alpha. I should be thanking you. But I think I’ll kill you instead.”
Josh growled on the other side of Hannah and clenched his fists, Ellie joining in with a growl of her own.
Oh, he already liked her. She was nothing like her family.
Hannah lifted her head, quirked a smile, and waved her fingers. A wall of dirt and rocks slammed into the wolves in front of them. Whimpers and growls echoed and Reed let out a yell.
It was on.